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Sunday, January 24, 2016

An Interview with Taste

[Brutal Heaviness from Sendai, Japan]

Good death metal is hard to come by in Malaysia, so it was a treat when Japanese trio Taste played not one but two shows in Kuala Lumpur at the start of the year. Their style of brutal heaviness recalls Morbid Angel and Immolation, but with enough personalized tweaks to keep lifers like me interested (and impressed). Since this is a band that fans of the true brutal daeth matel need to know about, I fired off some questions, which bassist/vocalist Takashi Harima fearlessly scaled the language barrier to answer. [The band is completed by guitarist Masaaki Sasaki and drummer Naoki Sugano.]

Dreams of Consciousness: Please introduce Taste - who are you and how would you describe your music?

We are a brutal death metal band based in Sendai City, Japan.
We express ourselves with a brutal sound.

DoC: Please give a brief history of your band - when did you form, what were your goals and why you chose the name "Taste" for your brutal heaviness death metal band?

[The band] was formed in 1997.
Taste represents a heavy brutal sound that combines fast, slow, brutal, heavy and technicality.
The name of the band "TASTE" is derived from cannibalism, because it is a common theme in brutal death metal.

DoC: What is your songwriting process like - do you have a main songwriter or do you write all together as a group?

Sasaki, our guitarist, writes the music. The bassist Harima writes the lyrics and does the vocals.

DoC: Tell me about your album Retaliation of Discomfort Organisms - where was it recorded? What were your intentions for the album, and how well does it represent the band?

Sendai received heavy damage and we lost a lot of friends and relatives.
At that time, playing music was very difficult. Regular life took a long time to restart.

One year later, we regained our motivation and decided to play death metal again in order to stand up to this adversity.

Retaliation of Discomfort Organisms is about representing the discomfort of organisms that live in adversity.

DoC: You recently did a 3-way split with Deadly Spawn from Japan and Neuroticos from Brazil. How do you choose the bands you collaborate with? What do you have in common with Deadly Spawn and Neuroticos?

3-way split TRISECTED STRANGULATING SERMONS AND BLACK MASTICATION was released from Sendai KOD Records. The title came from Ted and Axel from a band called Skogenhammer from Sendai.

The cover art was drawn by Fumika from a Sendai band called Begräbnis.

We met DeadlySpawn at a show in Tokyo and Neuroticos in Hiroshima. The show was amazing, so the three bands decided it was important to make the three-way split together.

All three bands play old school Death Metal, but each band represents death metal in their own way.

DoC: Your most recent release is a split with Humiliation from Malaysia.
How did you find out about Humiliation?

We [met them when] they were invited to Japan by Bloodbath Records Japan in 2011.

The first track on the split by TASTE features a guest scream by Barney, the vocalist of NAPALM DEATH. He is a personal friend and recorded the guest scream in Harima's living room.

DoC: Speaking of Malaysia, you recently played two shows in Kuala Lumpur. What was the experience like? What did you like most about playing in Malaysia?

The first day, "MAMAT FEST" was perfect!
We are very grateful for the cooperation of Humiliation and staff.
Humiliation comes to Japan in March. We will fully support them!

The next day we enjoyed the "Deep Shit" show.
We were only scheduled for the "MAMAT FEST" show, but suddenly, a show starring "Deep Shit" was on.
It was a very [small] studio show, but it was great to be able to meet good bands and awesome metal heads.

DoC: At the second show in KL you had to take off your shoes because of the venue's rules. When was the last time you played a show without shoes?

It was the first time I've done a show where I had to take off my shoes, but in Japan we take off our shoes at home so there was no discomfort.

DoC: One of the best death metal bands in South East Asia is Macaroni from Thailand - are you familiar with them? How do you feel about a Taste-Macaroni tour through the region?

We do not know Macaroni, but we are interested in a Southeast Asia tour. [You're welcome - Dreams of Comicness]

DoC: What's next for Taste?

Humiliation comes to Japan in March.
We have two shows with them,
March 6 in Tokyo and March 7 in Sendai.